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Endorses Edmiston

The race

Phoenix Elementary School District voters fill four seats on November 3, 2026 — the largest school-board race in Maricopa County — in two separate races: two four-year seats (vote for up to two) and two two-year seats (vote for up to two).

The certified roster — four-year seats: Carmen Trujillo (incumbent), Adrianne Speas, Allison Gullick. Two-year seats: Caitlin Millat, Suanne Edmiston (appointed incumbent), Damian Sandoval (appointed incumbent; listed by The Arizona Republic as Damian Sandoval Barrera). The district also asks voters to approve a $97.8 million bond, covered in our measure coverage.

The candidates — four-year seats

Carmen Trujillo (incumbent). Trujillo was first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, and has over a decade of experience in public sectors across education, human services and community health, as reported by The Arizona Republic. She is currently a community health worker with the Creighton Community Foundation and previously worked for Arizona's developmental disabilities division.

Pros: Eight years on this board across two elections and a career in public service delivery. Cons: No specific board votes or published re-election platform were sourced in this pass.

Adrianne Speas. Speas says she decided to run after seeing turmoil on this board, has lived in the area since 2007, has two children, has served as site council chair at Shaw Montessori since 2017 and works as an attorney, as reported by The Arizona Republic. Her stated priorities: maintaining a balanced budget and improving test scores.

Pros: An attorney with nine years chairing a school site council, running on budget balance and test scores — the board's two measurable jobs. Cons: Unproven in elected office; her platform is two priorities deep in our sourcing.

Allison Gullick. Gullick is the daughter of two public school teachers and works as an epidemiologist in public health, as reported by The Arizona Republic. She represented Central Phoenix on the SRP District 6 Council. Her stated priorities: improving educator pay and retention, preventing further school closures and supporting access to preschool.

Pros: Prior elected service on the SRP council and a concrete priority list. Cons: Her priorities are spending and preservation commitments without a sourced fiscal position alongside them.

The candidates — two-year seats

Suanne Edmiston (appointed incumbent). Edmiston was appointed to this board in April 2025 to fill a vacancy, as reported by The Arizona Republic. She has over a decade of experience in education policy in the U.S. House of Representatives and is the state director of the State Freedom Caucus Network, a conservative nonprofit political organization.

Pros: A decade of education-policy work in Congress and leadership of a named conservative organization's state network — her orientation is sourced, not guessed. Cons: Appointed, not yet elected; no board voting record was sourced in this pass.

Damian Sandoval (appointed incumbent). Sandoval was appointed to this board in May 2026, as reported by The Arizona Republic. He works as a customer service representative for the Motor Vehicle Division, previously worked for the Tea Party Patriots and for the Libre Initiative, a nonprofit that advocates economic freedom among Hispanics, including on health care access and immigration reform, per the Republic.

Pros: A sourced work history with two named conservative organizations — Tea Party Patriots and the economic-freedom Libre Initiative. Cons: The newest member in this race, appointed months ago; no board record was sourced in this pass.

Caitlin Millat. Millat is a former elementary school teacher and administrator and a current law professor at Arizona State University, where she teaches and writes about education law and democracy, as reported by The Arizona Republic. She is a Democrat. Her stated priorities: keeping schools open, strengthening enrollment through community outreach, ensuring safe buildings and transparent board operations centered on students.

Pros: The strongest education-law credentials in the race, from classroom to law school faculty. Cons: Her priorities — enrollment growth, keeping schools open — come without a sourced fiscal position, and her orientation is stated as plainly as her opponents': she is the other direction's candidate.

OUR CALL

Our call (two-year seats): Vote for up to two — we endorse Suanne Edmiston and Damian Sandoval. The basis is sourced organizational record: Edmiston's decade of education-policy work in the U.S. House and her role directing the State Freedom Caucus Network in Arizona, and Sandoval's work for the Tea Party Patriots and the Libre Initiative. Both were appointed to these seats and now stand for election to them; their affiliations are facts, and they point the way our values point.

Our call (four-year seats): insufficient record — no endorsement. What would earn one: a published platform with fiscal specifics from any of the three, or sourced votes from Trujillo's eight years. Speas's budget-and-scores priorities are the closest thing to a basis here; two priorities are not yet a record.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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